Misleading

I hate it when a book promises something and then never delivers. This happened to me twice this year. The first time is when I read The Fetch which was supposed to be a supernatural romance without the romance. The second book is Distant Waves: A novel of the Titanic.

The title of this book is Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic. This implies that the Titanic is the setting for this book. Well, not in this case.

Jane and her sisters go off with their mother to a place in Buffalo called Spirit Vale after their father dies. Their mother talks to the dead, which was a popular thing to do during that time. Some people maybe asking where the Titanic is...and I was asking the same question.

After spending some time in Buffalo Jane's mother is invited to England for a Spiritualist conference. Things happen, I don't remember what because I was trying to figure out where the Titanic fit into this entire book.

The one problem I had was it felt like this book focuses on Jane's mother more than the sisters. Half of the book takes place in Buffalo, which I found dull and uninteresting. Nothing happens! And that's the problem with this novel. It drags. Jane's sister has a secret hidden past which comes out from left field and is dropped in the reader's lap. It's not a bad little twist but I'm not sure why it needed to be mentioned. Then we have random historical figures (Nikola Tesla, and a few others that I have forgotten) thrown into the book. Why? Meanwhile the reader is going along, waiting and wondering where the Titanic fits into this whole story.

Finally we get to the Titanic at about page 200, however by that time I had lost interest in this book and I daresay most of teens would too.

The book was well written, the characters were decent, but the plot was very slow. I thought this books title was very misleading. Maybe if the book started on the Titanic then I might have been interested in what happened to the sisters.

I wish I could have liked this novel, but I could not.

Has anyone else felt mislead by a book? If so which book and why?

Cirque Du Freak Movie Trailer

My students like these books by Darren Shan. Currently there are 12 in the series. The author has also written The Saga of Darren Shan which is popular with my male readers.

The movie comes out October 23, 2009.

Review a book and you could win a $250.00 Hollister giftcard

Michelle Moran has a rockin contest on her website. If you review a copy of her latest book Cleopatra's Daughter.

Here are the rules:

Beginning September 15th and ending October 31st, all teens are invited to submit a link to their review of Cleopatra's Daughter for a chance to win a $250 gift certificate to Hollister.

CONTEST RULES

• Reviews can be posted on FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, or any blog
• You may enter the contest as many times as you like as long as you provide a different link to a new place you have posted your review. For example, if you have posted your review on Facebook and MySpace, simply fill out the form twice and that will count as 2 contest enteries. The more enteries, the better your chance of winning!
• The contest will be closed to enteries on October 31st at 12pm PST.
• One winner will be chosen and announced here on November 1st!

Please check out Michelle's Website for all the details to the contest.
Cleopatra's Daughter Contest!


Michelle is a great author and I am looking forward to her latest book.

Good luck to all who enter!

The Lovely Bones

My students love this book by Alice Sebold. Its directed by Peter Jackson and comes out December 11, 2009. Enjoy.

Much better than the first

After reading the first installment of Bizenghast, I decided to give the second volume a go. I am glad I did.

Once again we have As Dinah and Vincent trying to release tortured spirits, but this time I felt there was a little more meat to the story. Instead of going from ghost to ghost we find a more reflective Dinah and we slowly see her start to grow into a more confident person. Edaniel the cat is wacky as every, but he is good for some laughs. Vincent is her faithful guardian and always there to help Dinah.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first one. I am currently up to volume 5 and I love this series. There have been comments made that the art is not consistent. I personally didn't feel that, but I thought it should be noted.

For teens who are looking for an interesting gothic manga story I highly recommend this one.

Bizenghast Vol. 6 is currently out now.

Historical Fiction: Do teens read it?

I have always been a history nerd. I taught history for two years in Maryland. I am lucky to live in a historically rich section of the country. So many things happened in Upstate New York. The house I live in was built in 1850. My barn has old school construction. I just love history. It's my love of history that brought me to historical fiction novels.

However, as I sit back and read a YA historical fiction novel I think....would a teen enjoy this? Do teens enjoy historical fiction? I went to a historical fiction conference and was told NO teens hate historical fiction. That made me sad because I am writing a historical fiction YA book.

So my questions to my readers are:

• Do you enjoy historical fiction?
• Or do you think its really dull?
• Have you ever read it?
• And if you have what do you like about historical fiction.

I would love to hear your input not only as librarian but a struggling wanna be author.

I'm Paul Volponi's number one fan!!!!!

Or so it feels like it sometimes. I'm a big advocate of his work, and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one. I'm not sure why more people do not know about Mr. Volponi. In my opinion he is one of the best young adult authors out there. Plus his books deal with male issues, which are so hard to find. All of his characters are strong, yet flawed and are very interesting. My male students love his books and even the reluctant readers are drawn into his fast paced stories. Response is Mr. Volponi's latest book and it is great.

Noah is a young black man with some issues. He got his girlfriend pregnant and isn't sure if he loves her. He is a super senior and is in his 5th year of high school. Noah hates working at the local burger joint because it doesn't make him enough money but he needs the job. Noah needs the cash for his baby daughter. He also needs the cash so his nagging girlfriend..or whatever she is..will get off his back.

Deciding he needs to make some quick cash, Noah and his friends decide to jack a car. The problem is things do not go as planned and he runs into three Italian boys. One bashes his head in with a baseball bat.

The community where Noah lives is divided. There are the blacks and the Italians and neither get along very well. The town is divide by this incident. Was it racially motivated? Or were the Italian boys protecting their neighborhood from thugs?

The reader watches as Noah struggles with the issues of race relations, prejudice, hatred, and his own desire to do something better with his life.

As with all Volponi novels this is a quick read. There is some language issues, but to be fair this has to be one of the tamer books by him. I believe the f bomb is only dropped a few times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait for the next one which is Homestrech and comes out September 22.

Upcoming releases for August

I forgot that it was August. The summer is flying by. Soon we'll all be back in school. Since its a new month here are some upcoming releases for the month of August. I am really looking forward to After. Ghosts seem to be in fashion now, and its not even Halloween. hmmm. Anyone else notice this trend?

This is only a partial list.

• Dirty South by Phillip Thomas Duck
• My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
• Ruined by Paula Morris
• Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• How it ends by by Laura Wiess
• After by Amy Efaw
• Evil by by Timothy Carter
• The Siege of Macindaw: Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan
• The Monster Variations by Daniel Kraus
• Sleepless by Thomas Fahy
• Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
• Tombstone Tea by by Joanne Dahme
• Pop by Gordon Korman

Thank You Ms. Kizer

Two weeks ago I was venting that I missed out on Amazon Vine's newsletter and I was very upset I missed out on Meridian by Amber Kizer. Well, Ms. Kizer is going to send me a signed copy of Meridian for my school. Hello! How cool is that? So a special thanks goes out to Ms. Kizer.

Good luck with your book Ms. Kizer! You rock!